


Time to Live

by JCapasso



Series: The Long Sleep [2]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25078456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JCapasso/pseuds/JCapasso
Summary: After Damon and Elena wake up from their long nap, they find that the world has changed but some things will always stay the same.Sequel to Somnolence.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Stefan Salvatore, Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Josette "Jo" Laughlin/Alaric Saltzman
Series: The Long Sleep [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816255
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the happy world sequel. I'm thinking of doing an alternate one where they wake up to a dystopian world if you guys want to read something like that.

Elena jolted back to reality with a sharp breath and instinctively panicked for a moment before she caught herself. In her defense anyone would panic waking up in a coffin next to a desiccated body. She took a deep breath to steady herself before reaching up and pushing the lid of the coffin open. Getting a look at Damon’s body was even worse than feeling it and she felt the tears welling up in her eyes at what he must be going through right now. Finding him some blood was her first priority now that the mind link was broken. 

Her muscles were stiff and sore from disuse, but she had been perfectly preserved so that was her only issue at the moment other than the slight hunger that she could easily ignore. She gently untangled herself from Damon and climbed out of the coffin, glad that Bonnie had made the last minute addition of the fresh air spell, otherwise she couldn’t have imagined what it would smell like in here. She took a deep breath before opening the door for the first time in who even knew how long, ready to go hunt down some blood, even if it had to be a living person until she figured out where the blood banks were in this time. 

She was more than a little surprised that she didn’t have to. The moment the door was open, Ric was there, handing her a blood bag. She squealed and jumped into his arms, giving him a huge hug. It didn’t last long though due to both their worries about Damon and Ric followed her in as she started feeding him the blood. It didn’t take long before Damon was drinking on his own and by the time the bag was empty, he was moving around. He still looked more than a little grey and very weak as he sat up. When he saw Ric he grinned before saying, “I really hope you brought more than one of those.” 

Ric laughed. “Nice to see you too, buddy. And yes. I have a whole cooler full in the car. For both of you. Just wanted to get you up and moving first.” 

Elena and Ric both helped Damon out of the coffin, and when Damon leaned heavily on Ric from weakness, he took the opportunity to grip him in a brief hug before they started moving. When the got outside, Damon and Elena both stopped in shock. “Dude what the hell is that?” Damon was the first to ask.

Ric laughed. “That’s my car,” he told them. 

“It looks like someone puked up a hamster ball,” Damon wrinkled his nose. 

“He’s not exactly wrong,” Elena couldn’t help but add amusedly. 

Ric shook his head and got them moving again. “You know…you two have been asleep for more than a hundred and forty years. There have been a lot of changes.” 

“Has it been that long?” Elena asked as Ric put a hand to the side of the contraption he called a car and part of it disappeared. 

“You don’t know?” Ric asked worriedly, wondering what it must have been like in there as he helped Damon inside. 

“We kinda lost track of time quite a while ago,” Damon chuckled, taking the offered blood bag and drinking greedily. 

Elena took hers a little more politely and drank at a normal pace. It had been a little while since she fed before everything happened, but not so much that she was starving like Damon. “Yeah, we were having a little too much fun to keep track of things,” she added, noticing the worried look on Ric’s face and wanting him to know that they were okay. 

Before Ric could respond they were distracted by a beeping sound and Ric reached over and hit a button and a hologram of Jo appeared. “Oh good,” she said looking around. “I’m glad they’re okay.”

“Yeah, it’s all good. We’re still getting Damon rehydrated, but he’ll be fine,” Ric told her. 

“Hi Jo!” Elena waved happily. 

“Elena,” she smiled in greeting. “It’s so nice to see you again. You too Damon.” Damon just looked up and waved, too involved with the blood. 

“Well I’ll let you go. I just wanted to check in and make sure everything went according to plan. I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on,” Jo told them before looking at Ric and blowing him a kiss and then disappearing. 

“Wow. That’s…definitely a lot of changes,” Elena chuckled. She hadn’t even considered how the world might have moved on while they were sleeping. In her mind they always just came back to things just how they were, but she realized how ridiculous that was. 

“Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it,” Ric told her. 

“So…I’m guessing since we’re awake that Bonnie is gone?” Elena asked sadly and Damon reached out and took her hand as he finished one last blood bag. 

“Yeah. Jo’s been taking care of her for a while but when it got near the end I was dispatched here to wait for you two,” Ric said sadly. 

“I hope she had a good life,” Damon said. 

“Yes, Damon. She wasn’t going to risk you making her afterlife a living hell if she didn’t,” Ric chuckled. 

“Damon!” Elena scolded amusedly. 

“Hey, I had to make sure she knew I was serious,” he grinned unashamedly. “So tell us about it?” 

“Well she and Jeremy got back together not long after you two went under. They ended up getting married and they had four kids, eleven grandkids, over two dozen great grandkids and I lost track from there,” Ric told them. 

“But they were happy? Jeremy too?” Elena asked hopefully. 

“They were very happy, but missing you two a lot,” Ric admitted. “Jeremy died about eighty years ago. Old age. He was eighty three when he went. He and Bonnie both kept journals for you to read when you woke up. We’ve got them all boxed up at home. I’ll get them for you later.” 

“Thank you Ric,” Elena said gratefully. 

“Bet you’ve had a hell of a time keeping up with all those little Bennetts,” Damon joked. 

“You have no idea,” Ric rolled his eyes. “Figures as soon as you pass that particular torch the family explodes.” Damon and Elena both laughed. “On the plus side there’s been less danger overall so I guess it balances out.” 

“That’s good at least,” Elena said with a grin. 

“What about Stefan?” Damon asked him. 

“That’s where we’re headed next if you two are ready to go?” Ric asked, getting nods from both of them. Ric showed them how to strap in before getting in his own seat and they both tensed as the car lifted into the air. “We’ve lost contact over the years for the most part, and I don’t have their contact number, but I know where they live, so we’ll just have to drop in unannounced.”

“You don’t mean…actually drop do you?” Elena asked nervously looking out the window at the long way to the ground.

Ric burst into laughter and shook his head. “No. We will land in a safe and controlled manner. Scared of heights?” 

“Come on ‘Lena. As often as we flew you’d think you’d be used to it by now,” Damon teased. 

“Yeah…well…that was under our own control not dependent on some new technology,” she said nervously. 

“These cars aren’t exactly new. They’ve been around almost a hundred years and all the kinks were worked out a long time ago. They’re perfectly safe,” Ric assured her before getting to his question. “You flew?” 

“It was a mindscape. We could do anything we wanted,” Damon explained. 

“That actually sounds like fun,” Ric said thoughtfully. He’d tried really hard not to think much on what Damon and Elena must be dealing with over the years, but that didn’t sound so bad. 

Now that fears were assuaged, Damon got back to the topic. “So my dear stubborn brother didn’t take the cure after all huh?” 

“No, he did. It just took a while,” Ric told him as they began their descent. When he parked them in the woods, Damon and Elena both looked him curiously. “I want to surprise them,” he grinned. As they walked, Damon peppered his old friend with questions that Ric studiously avoided with a stock answer of, “You’ll see.”

Thankfully it was a short walk before they were stepping out into a wide expanse of lawn. The first thing Damon noticed was the house. The original Salvatore estate had been rebuilt. The next thing they both noticed were the two kids arguing in the yard over what looked like a flat disk. “Give it back Damien or I’m telling Dad!” the sandy haired girl stomped her foot while an older blonde boy held a large disk shaped object over his head. 

Damon sucked in a sharp breath at the boy’s name and tears filled his eyes. Elena squeezed his hand with a warm smile imagining how he must feel that his brother apparently named his son after him. The boy shoved the object at the girl with a scoff. “God you’re such a tattletale Eleanor.” It was Elena’s turn to be touched. 

It was about that time that their approach was noticed and both kids ran over. “Wow, you look just like the pictures. Are you really the real Uncle Damon and Aunt Elena?” the little girl asked. 

“Yeah, we are,” Elena crouched down in front of them. “We just woke up from a long sleep.” 

Each of them had their hands grabbed by their namesakes as they were dragged towards the house as Damien bellowed, “Mom! Dad! Uncle Damon and Aunt Elena are home!” as Ric trailed behind with a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

Stefan was out the door before they even got to it and his steps faltered a bit before he realized that his son was right. He almost tackled his brother in a hug before an arm reached out and pulled Elena in as well. “God, I’ve missed you two so much.” 

“We’ve missed you too, brother,” Damon said hugging Stefan back just as tightly. The one bad thing about the mindscape was that they were alone. Sure they could make the illusion of people or even replay memories, but everything was under their control. It wasn’t even close to the same. 

“What he said,” Elena sniffled as the tears streamed down her face. When she looked up over Stefan’s shoulder she gasped as she saw Caroline standing on the porch with one hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her face too and a toddler on her hip. “Caroline…” she breathed out. 

That was the cue for Stefan to let them go and Elena blurred over to Caroline, pulling her into a hug, careful not to crush the baby. By the time they let go, the rest of the group had joined them and they were headed inside. “Sorry we didn’t call, but the last number I had for you guys was disconnected…” Ric said with a shrug.

“No, I’m sorry,” Caroline said with a wince. “We had to change it a few years ago and things have been so hectic that we didn’t even think to let you know.” 

“It’s fine. Life is busy. Believe me, we know,” Ric chuckled. 

“Wait right here, there’s something I’ve been saving for this day,” Stefan grinned before rushing out of the room as everyone sat. 

“I guess introductions are up to me then,” Caroline laughed. “I’m guessing you already met Damien and Ellie, wherever they disappeared to, but I doubt they introduced themselves. And this little one is Lizzie.” 

“Do they know about…you know…the fangs and rawr type stuff?” Damon asked. 

Caroline chucked and nodded. “Yeah. They do. Not the scary parts, but the basics.” 

“Okay, so I can ask…how long have you guys been human? I didn’t expect him to wait so long to take the cure.”

“We were trying to wait for you,” Caroline said sadly. “But then he fell off the wagon again about twenty years ago, so I basically forced it on him then.” 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Elena said with a wince. That was why she’d decided to give the cure to Stefan anyway. With his blood issues, he needed it a lot more than she did. 

“We waited a while to start a family. We needed to get used to the whole being human again thing. It was a big adjustment. Damien is eight, Eleanor is five, and Elizabeth is two,” Caroline explained. 

“And you don’t know how glad we are that you two woke up before we were too old to enjoy it,” Stefan chuckled as he came back into the room, still brushing the dust off a bottle. 

“Holy crap, you kept that?” Damon asked wide-eyed when he saw what Stefan was carrying. 

“What is it?” Elena asked curiously. 

“That was the oldest, finest bottle of bourbon we had back home. We always said that we weren’t gonna open it until a special occasion,” Damon grinned. “I would have expected that to be celebrating your wedding, or being human, or the birth of your kids or something.”

“Nope. The moment you decided to go to sleep with Elena, it was always going to be broken out for your homecoming,” Stefan said with a smile before handing it over. “Would you like to do the honors, brother?” 

Damon took the bottle and popped the cork before he started pouring. Even Elena, who was never a fan of bourbon had a glass. Damon was the one who offered the toast though, not wanting his best friend to get lost in the happiness of reunions. “To Bonnie. May she find her peace.” 

“To Bonnie,” everyone else chorused with a mixture of emotions. 

Once she had taken a sip, Caroline put her drink down and got up. “I’m gonna go put Lizzie down for a nap and check on the other two.” 

“I’ll come with you,” Elena offered. 

“No, it’s fine,” Caroline waved her off. “You stay and catch up. I’ll be back.” 

Elena looked after her worriedly and Stefan explained. “She’s probably feeling guilty. We haven’t talked to Bonnie in years and now we’re here being so happy to see you two and it didn’t even dawn on us that it meant Bonnie was gone.” 

“She left letters for you and Caroline too,” Ric told him. “She didn’t blame you for losing contact. She knew how much you were dealing with and just because you didn’t talk often didn’t mean you weren’t still friends.” 

“Thanks Ric,” Stefan said sadly. “We want to go to the funeral.”

“I’ll let you know once the arrangements are made,” Ric promised. “I should probably get home soon anyway.” 

“Yeah. Okay. Tell Jo hi and I’ll send you our new number in a few minutes,” Stefan told him. 

Once Ric was gone, Elena said, “I’m gonna go find Caroline,” as she got up, kissed Damon softly and headed out, leaving the two brothers alone. 

“It looks like you’ve made a nice life for yourself, Stef, even if it was overdue,” Damon said with a smile. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty great. Exhausting most days, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. How have you been? Did it work out like you wanted? You have no idea how much I wished I could get in there and wake you up enough to check.”

“It did work out like I wanted. I mean, I could still feel the desiccation a little bit, but it was more of a background ache that I could ignore most of the time. We lived a nice life in our mindscapes, even if it was a little lonely,” Damon told him. 

“But you had each other,” Stefan smiled. That was all his brother had ever really wanted. 

“Yeah. We did. And that made it all worth it,” Damon smiled. “I told you that you’d get the girl eventually. How long did it take?” 

“It was about ten years before she agreed to give us a chance, and neither of us have ever looked back,” Stefan chuckled as he poured them both another drink. 

Elena found Caroline sitting on the porch watching Damien and Ellie run around the yard and she sat on the swing next to her. “It’s not your fault, you know,” Elena said gently. 

“What’s not?” Caroline asked absentmindedly. 

“Losing touch. It happens as people get older and their lives move on. Hell, Damon and I were out of touch for almost a century and a half,” she joked trying to lighten the mood and it did get a laugh from Caroline. 

“I know. It’s just hard, you know? The three of us, we used to be inseparable. Even with all the crap that we had to deal with. Then you’re in a coma and it’s just me and Bonnie then we drift apart too, but now you’re back and she’s gone…” 

“I know,” Elena said wrapping her arm around Caroline’s shoulders. Caroline leaned against her and put her head on Elena’s shoulder. “But life always goes on, even if certain people are lost. They live on in our memories.” 

“And one day you’ll be the only one left to carry all our memories,” Caroline sighed. 

“Are you regretting taking the cure?” Elena asked. 

“No. Not at all. I love my life, and the kids…they wouldn’t even exist without it. It’s just…sometimes it hits me that I’m not immortal anymore, you know?” 

“Yeah. I can imagine.” 

“So you and Damon seem happy. You didn’t get enough of him in your head?” Caroline changed the subject. 

“We are happy,” Elena smiled brightly. “I don’t think I could ever get enough of him. Not that we didn’t drive each other insane sometimes, of course, but I think I love him more now than I did before if that’s even possible.” 

“Well I’m happy for you two. Really. Since you’re back in the real world now are you gonna get married?” Caroline asked hopefully. 

“Probably. We talked about it a lot in the mindscape, but more of a someday when we can type thing. No concrete plans. That would have made missing everyone too hard.” 

“Well I call maid of honor when you do,” Caroline grinned. 

“Of course,” Elena easily agreed. “And Stefan will be best man. We did get that far in the talking. Jo and Ric will be in the wedding too.”

“And I get to plan it,” Caroline said firmly, not willing to take no for an answer. 

“I couldn’t think of anyone better,” Elena laughed. The rest of the afternoon was spent that way with Elena and Caroline catching up while Stefan and Damon did the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Damon and Elena happily accepted the invitation to stay with Stefan and Caroline for a while so they could have some time to figure out this new world before finding their own way in it. A few days later, they were all piled in the hamster ball that they called cars in this world and heading to Bonnie’s funeral. Most of Bonnie’s children and grandchildren had already passed, not being as powerful as she was, and one of her great grandchildren was overseeing things. “Uncle Stefan. I’m glad you came,” he greeted Stefan at the door. 

“Jeremy. It’s nice to see you again. I’m sorry it’s been so long,” Stefan told him. 

“Jeremy?” Elena asked breathlessly. 

“Yeah. I was named after my great grandfather. You were his sister weren’t you? Elena? And you must be Damon. You look just like your pictures.”

“Bonnie talked about us?” Damon asked with a smile. 

“All the time,” Jeremy chuckled. “You two sacrificed so much so that we could exist. She felt it only right that we honor you. Damon and Elena are actually family names that are passed down often, just like Jeremy, Sheila, and Rudy.” 

“That’s…thank you, Jeremy,” Elena sniffled, tears already coming and the service hadn’t even started yet. Damon just swallowed around the lump in his throat and nodded. 

“You’re welcome,” he said with his own sad smile, glad to get a chance to meet them, even if it was a terrible cost. “Will you come back by in a couple days? She wanted to talk to you.”

“How?” Damon asked curiously. 

“There’s a spell…it can’t be used often because it’s kinda painful for the spirit, but she insisted on being able to talk to both of you,” Jeremy explained. 

“Okay. We’ll be here,” Elena agreed, glad that she would at least get a chance to say goodbye. Again. 

“Is your brother going to be able to make it?” Stefan asked him. 

“No, unfortunately. He couldn’t catch a shuttle from Mars Colony in time, and he’s so busy anyway with President Espinoza running for re-election…he’s her campaign manager,” he added the last part to Damon and Elena who were still trying to wrap their heads around the Mars Colony part. 

As the music started, everyone began finding their seats and Jeremy motioned Damon and Elena to the front to sit with the family, which moved them even more. Elena spent most of the ceremony crying on Damon’s shoulder, but he was able to hold his tears back for the most part. A few escaped here and there, but for the most part they stayed in his eyes. After the ceremony everyone gathered to mingle and hearing about how many Bennetts there were nowadays was nothing compared to meeting them all. They told a lot of old stories of Bonnie from their time, and were thanked more than once for their sacrifice that made Bonnie’s life and thus all of theirs possible. 

They needed the next day to recover but the day after that they went back to the Bennett home for the spell to let them talk to Bonnie. They were led into a circle and five Bennetts surrounded them and started to chant. When Bonnie appeared, she looked just like she had the day they last saw each other. “Well you certainly don’t look a hundred and sixty,” Damon teased as he and Elena both pulled her into a group hug. 

“And you’re just as insufferable as ever,” Bonnie teased back. “It’s so great to see you both,” she said a little more seriously as she pulled back to look at them. “You look happy. Were you happy?”

“We were,” Elena nodded with tears running down her cheeks. 

“Very happy,” Damon added. “But we missed you.” 

“I missed both of you too. So much. You have no idea,” Bonnie said with a sad smile. “I had to make myself believe that you two were happy. It was the only way I could go on knowing…”

“Well we were. And we’re so glad you had such a long happy life too,” Elena told her. 

“It’s a good thing I don’t have to find a way to carry out my threat,” Damon chuckled. 

“It was bad enough having an irritating Salvatore hounding me in life. I wasn’t gonna risk it in death too,” Bonnie joked. 

“Love you too Bon-bon,” Damon laughed. 

“Always, big brother,” Bonnie grinned. 

“Thank you for keeping our memory alive,” Elena told her. “We’ll do the same for you,” she promised. 

“And that’s all I can hope for,” Bonnie smiled and reached out to take her hand. “I know you guys are gonna miss me. Just as much as I missed you. But don’t mourn me too long. I lived a full life and I’m at peace now. You sacrificed your lives so that I could live, but now it’s your time. It’s your turn to go out there and make a beautiful life for yourselves.”

“We will,” Damon promised. “In fact…I was gonna do this later, but I can’t think of a better witness to this moment.” 

“What moment?” Elena asked curiously, but the light in Bonnie’s eyes said that she got it and she nodded excitedly at Damon. 

Damon winked at Bonnie before turning his attention to Elena and getting down on one knee, pulling a ring box out of his pocket that he’d been carrying around for days. He’d just been waiting until after the funeral and everything was settled, but this was even better. “Elena, we’ve spent the last hundred and forty years living a wonderful fantasy, but now it’s time for reality and I can’t think of anything I’d like more from my eternity than to be your husband. Will you marry me?” 

Elena nodded profusely and managed to croak out a, “Yes,” as Damon slid the ring on her finger and Bonnie almost tackled them both in a hug. 

“Thank you so much for letting me be here for that and you can bet your asses that I’ll be there in spirit at your wedding too.” 

“We’ll make sure to save you a place,” Elena promised. 

“I need to go now, but ask Jeremy for the box I left you on the top shelf of my closet. There’s a letter that explains. But I expect the first one to be named after me. I love you both,” Bonnie said squeezing both her hands before she disappeared. 

They were both confused about her last words, but decided to wait until they got home to open the box and read the letter. It turned out that Bonnie had managed to find a way to allow vampires to have babies. She destroyed the spell as soon as she put it on the amulets though. This was a gift for them and only them. They could also only be worn for no more than an hour a day or there would be side effects. It was essentially turning parts of their bodies human while leaving the rest alone and that put a strain on the body after a while. 

Damon and Elena finally had the last piece for their lives to be perfect instead of just great. When they got married six months later, they decided to start trying for a baby immediately. They wanted him or her to be able to grow up with their cousins, and for Stefan and Caroline to be able to dote on their niece or nephew. The Salvatore estate was plenty large enough for all of them, even when Stefan and Caroline had another baby to join Damon and Elena’s little girl. Bonnie and Zachary were only a month apart in age, and despite being born of two vampires, the original Bonnie’s spell allowed their baby to be completely human. Along with their son that came two years later. 

After their son, Gray, was conceived, Damon and Elena put away the amulets. They might use them again one day. Forever was a long time. But for the time being they were done. They remained with Stefan and Caroline long after the kids were grown and moved out and when Stefan and Caroline passed, within a month of each other, forty years later, they left the estate to Damon and Elena, though all the kids and grandkids and on down the line were regular visitors, along with various Bennetts and Ric and Jo who were perfectly happy being pseudo family to the Salvatore and Bennett gaggle and never really wanted kids of their own, even if the amulets weren’t bound to Damon and Elena only. 

Sometimes they did miss the freedom and possibilities of the mindscape world they had lived in for so long, but reality was always so much better than fantasy and the rest of their eternity was filled with the love and happiness that they’d always longed for.


End file.
